Ginsenoside Re Regulates the Insulin/Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Signaling Pathway and Mediates Lipid Metabolism to Achieve Anti-Aging Effects in Caenorhabditis elegans

The increasing demographic aging of society is a great challenge to the healthcare sector and raises the socio-economic burden. Therefore, elucidating the mechanisms of aging and developing safe effective anti-aging products to prolong people's healthy lifespan are paramount nowadays. <i>Panax ginseng</i> has been highly regarded since ancient times for its ability to enhance health and prolong life. However, its main active substances of anti-aging and their mechanisms are not fully understood. In this research, <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> was used as a model organism to explore and confirm the key active substances from <i>Panax ginseng</i> and the mechanisms that exert anti-aging effects. Various ginsenoside compounds were evaluated based on longevity, anti-stress, physiological function, etc. Ginsenoside Re, which has powerful anti-aging activity, was screened. In the follow-up trials, transcriptomics and RT-qPCR techniques were used to investigate the mechanism of Re in exerting its anti-aging properties. Differential genes were enriched in the Insulin/Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Signaling (IIS) pathway, the neuropeptide signaling pathway, and lipid metabolism. A significant increase in the expression levels of <i>daf-16</i>, <i>sgk-1</i>, <i>skn-1</i>, <i>hsf-1</i>, <i>hsp-16.2</i>, <i>sod-3</i>, <i>gst-4</i>, <i>fil-2</i>, <i>lips-11</i>, <i>cyp-35A4</i>, and <i>aex-2</i> genes, and a significant decrease in the expression levels of <i>daf-2</i>, <i>age-1</i>, and <i>akt-2</i> genes were verified. These suggest that ginsenoside Re exerts its life-extending influence by regulating lipid metabolism and the IIS pathway.